Everything You Always Wanted To Know About A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK

Filming has wrapped on another Woody Allen film, titled A Rainy Day In New York. It is Allen’s 48th feature film, and will be released in 2018. As the film heads into post production, we do our usual wrap up of everything we know. Minor spoilers, and some speculation to follow.

The title, the story

A Rainy Day In New York has been a story idea for Allen for 15 years. He had considered it for his Amazon project, and it looks like he took that refreshed script and made it into a new film.

We know very little about the film, but we know it revolves around the three young leads. At least part of the film involves making a film – Selena Gomez plays an actress. The three leads seem to be in a love triangle, and the title suggests the adventures all occur in one day.

There are no clear comedic actors, suggesting that this isn’t a comedy. Although it looks like a breezy romance, but that’s pure speculation. Hell, it could be a brutal murder story (again). We don’t know.

The cast, the characters

The film’s three leads are Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning and Selena Gomez. Also getting top billing are Jude Law, Diego Luna and Liev Schreiber. In supporting roles are Annaleigh Ashford, Rebecca Hall, Cherry Jones, Will Rogers, Kelly Rohrbach and Suki Waterhouse. Hall had starred in an Allen film before – Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Ashford, Jones, Rogers and Waterhouse were not spotted during the production. Conal Fowkes, Allen’s regular piano player, also appeared in the film.

We know little of the characters. We spotted Chalamet with three romantic entanglements – Fanning, Gomez and Rohrbach. Gomez is playing an actress. He also wore a very Woody Allen-sequence outfit. There’s speculation that Law also plays someone who works in film. There were no other clues or names learnt during production.

All we know is that there was a lot of great actors frolicking around New York.

The crew

Vittorio Storaro returns as cinematographer. It is his third film with Allen. The production team includes the returning team of Letty Aronson and Helen Robin. One name missing seems to be Santo Loquasto, Allen’s usual production designer. Could be because so few real sets where used. Allen’s daughter Bechet was also seen working on set.

The setting, the locations

Allen filmed in New York, and it seems in Manhattan exclusively. The time period is contemporary. Allen has not set a film exclusively in contemporary New York since 2009’s Whatever Works.

Locations used were several in Central Park, and posh apartments by the park, on Upper West Side. Filming took place inside and outside the Met Museum. They also shot in various streets around Greenwich Village.

There were only a handful of costumes, backing the title’s claim that it is set in one day. And lots of rain machines.

What’s next?

Allen and his team now go into post production – editing, scoring, and more. It seems inevitable that the film will be released in 2018. It is unknown if Amazon would release the film, like they have Allen’s last two – Café Society and Wonder Wheel. It is unlikely it will be released until July at the earliest.

We are bound to find out more in the meantime. We will be following the film’s development over the next year.

The film won’t be released. Mr. Allen will be forced to shelve it — even after a court of law has ruled that there are no credible allegations with respect to the charges raised by Mr. Allen’s daughter. The days of the Salem witch hunts seem not to have entirely vanished from our shores.